Negotiation List Quarterbacks - Greg McGhee

[WestCoastJoe]

Did anyone look at YouTube for Travis Partridge? I certainly did not last year. He has some mojo. Did not look overmatched in brief showing last year.

Huge guy. Can scramble around a bit, not fast, but moves around in the pocket a bit like Roethlisberger. Coach's kid.

I would not discount him.

We will see how things develop under Tedford. I would not have been surprised if he cleaned house either.

[Toppy Vann]

Travis Lulay, John Beck, Travis Partridge, Jordan Rodgers, Greg McGhee....really curious to see who's going to be the odd man out as it's extremely doubtful that the club is going to carry 5 QBs on the 46-man roster, injured list, and practice roster.

Global TV did a feature on Travis this week that showed him on the practice field throwing (in shorts and a T-shirt....you gotta love this BC winter!). He is pleased with his progress but admitted it's baby steps at this point. The main thing is he's seeing progression. Looked like he was getting decent velocity on the ball too.

If something calamitous were to happen to Lulay at Spring Camp, the main camp in Kamloops, or the 2 preseason games, it would be hard to believe the club would not look to add a veteran pivot for the 2015 season. I could be wrong, but I just can't see them playing the 2015 season with a QB group that has like, 3 CFL starts among them.


DH

That is a good question David. Personally I don't see anyway they carry 5 unless injury (legit or hangnail) dictates they stash one on the 6 game. If not 4 is the max they will keep; 3 on the 46 and 1 on the PR. I saw that clip on Global.

That he was throwing was positive but if I was to rate it I'd say he's at 60%. While it looked like he was doing more than the soft tossing I saw at TC last year he certainly wasn't stepping into any throws with any authority. Thankfully camp is still 3 months away.

As for the vet pivot idea if something goes sideways I think by default John Beck will have to be that guy. There just isn't anybody out there who would be an upgrade over Beck with all due respects to Dan Lefevour who is recovering from a major knee injury.

Tedford is new to BC and - if has any smarts - has to know that Lulay''s situation is fragile at best. How can anyone be denial based on last season? He got injured in a pre game warm up. Listen to how he's just taking small steps even now.

I doubt they can keep 5 as well but 4 was the number in 2005 with DD, CP, Jarius (hurt in first play on offense in Regina in first preseason game and lost that season pretty much). That opened the door for try out camp QB Buck Pierce - and we all know what he did in that game in Regina where we were losing until he came off the banch. Later against a bad Hamilton he came in and shot out the lights such that Wally was accused by Dan (newer saw a lions game but I can talk forever on it) Russell of running up the score.

At this stage you'd have to say the Lions are in bad shape at QB with nothing proven there as we don't even know if that Lulay shoulder can survive even one hit or a warm up.

[squishy35]

http://www.cfl.ca/article/tedford-a-big ... with-lions


Nice Article from CFL.ca Looks like McGhee is coming here with a lot of enthusiasm and maturity.

[WestCoastJoe]

http://www.cfl.ca/article/tedford-a-big ... with-lions


Nice Article from CFL.ca Looks like McGhee is coming here with a lot of enthusiasm and maturity.

Thanks for posting. Very nice article.

“I’ve been fortunate to deal with quality quarterbacks my whole career,” he says of the reputation he’s gained for developing elite pivots. “Guys who have a lot of similar qualities: highly competitive, students of the game, obviously gifted as athletes, but all of them bring more to the table other than just being able to throw a football. From what I know of Greg, he shares those.”

McGhee, who wrapped up his carrer at Howard University as the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference’s all-time offensive leader with 10,169 yards, was first brought up to the Lion’s head coach at the Senior Bowl as a player who was flying under the radar but was well worth a look.

Tedford looked up the Pittsburgh, PA native on YouTube when he returned to Vancouver and after requesting his highlight tape, took a trip down to personally workout McGhee.

Very cool.

The opportunity to play for coach Tedford had a huge impact on McGhee’s decision to bypass the NFL combine last week and sign north of the border. “He’s one of the best quarterback coaches now,” he said in a telephone interview. “With his history and the talent that he’s produced at Cal and Tampa Bay it was almost a no-brainer.”

Of course, as with the majority of international players, the CFL game is entirely new to McGhee, but his former quarterback coach at Howard just happens to be Ted White, the former backup QB to Anthony Calvillo with the Alouettes.

“I’ve been studying the game a lot, watching tapes,” said McGhee. “As soon as I made this decision, we [he and White] started talking about CFL style, the different routes, farther throws, things like that, especially the rules. The rules I think will be the biggest difference for me.”

Given his proven commitment to studying the game, “a true student of football,” as coach Tedford puts it, expect McGhee to fully immerse himself in the CFL.

“When I get up there in April [for passing camp], I’ll be ready.”

Travis Lulay, John Beck, Travis Partridge, Jordan Rodgers, Greg McGhee. Five guys for Camp.

[KnowItAll]

unless one of the new guys tank, I would hope that Beck would be the odd man out.

[Toppy Vann]

I 'm not hoping for any to tank but for any of these including Beck to step up and be ready to start.

I don't think McGhee will find the big problem the rules in the CFL but the speed of the game and the size and quickness of the players coming at him. He has the confidence and is not afraid to pass and is capable to complete passes but the CFL is a much higher quality league than what he's seen at college.

Interesting that Tedford himself went to see this guy. Either Tedford's a bit of a micro-manager (let's hope not) or he is like many fans fearful that he hasn't another sure fire starter in the QB collection to date and like many fans is concerned that his starter's shoulder injury will never heal and is looking for the home run hitter who can play immediately as he has no idea if Lulay is okay or - and neither do we of course.

The big issues for the college QB is if they can make that transition to the pros - and many good college QBs don't. They are always seeking that exception.

The big upside to this guy might be that Tedford was tipped about this under the radar guy by someone with a great eye for talent and awareness of his potential. This is certainly how Bobby Ackles got tips and Eric Tillman who has a large network of contacts he never stopped reaching out to in the USA. Tedford might be in a similar situation as he was producing college players for the pros. What we read is that his guys weren't doing great at graduating - something that for me is a bit sad.

[Rammer]

I 'm not hoping for any to tank but for any of these including Beck to step up and be ready to start.

I don't think McGhee will find the big problem the rules in the CFL but the speed of the game and the size and quickness of the players coming at him. He has the confidence and is not afraid to pass and is capable to complete passes but the CFL is a much higher quality league than what he's seen at college.

Interesting that Tedford himself went to see this guy. Either Tedford's a bit of a micro-manager (let's hope not) or he is like many fans fearful that he hasn't another sure fire starter in the QB collection to date and like many fans is concerned that his starter's shoulder injury will never heal and is looking for the home run hitter who can play immediately as he has no idea if Lulay is okay or - and neither do we of course.

The big issues for the college QB is if they can make that transition to the pros - and many good college QBs don't. They are always seeking that exception.

The big upside to this guy might be that Tedford was tipped about this under the radar guy by someone with a great eye for talent and awareness of his potential. This is certainly how Bobby Ackles got tips and Eric Tillman who has a large network of contacts he never stopped reaching out to in the USA. Tedford might be in a similar situation as he was producing college players for the pros. What we read is that his guys weren't doing great at graduating - something that for me is a bit sad.

I like that Tedford went to see McGhee for himself, it tells me that there is more to this QB than just another QB coming out of college. By investing his time with McGhee, it may have swayed McGhee's decision and that is exactly what we as fans wanted with the announcement of Tedford as HC. Also being a QB HC, Tedford needs to see what McGhee is made of, he then signed him, so that also leads me to believe that McGhee has the skillset and mindset to be a QB that Tedford can work with. Having only seen his athletic ability on youtube highlights, he looks to possess the skillset that a CFL QB needs, especially a rookie QB, he can improvise while on the run. The only thing that has me concerned is that his arm doesn't look to be on the same level as his running ability is, and that is a bigger problem in the CFL vs NFL or NCAA.

As for Tillman, I do think that he struggled finding QB's, that certainly wasn't his strong suit position to fill during his tenure in the CFL as a GM. He was good at spinning the media talk, even to the point of some feeling sorry for Chick when he was pinned by Murphy (Oh how that was a glorious time for the Lions OL).

[squishy35]

I 'm not hoping for any to tank but for any of these including Beck to step up and be ready to start.

I don't think McGhee will find the big problem the rules in the CFL but the speed of the game and the size and quickness of the players coming at him. He has the confidence and is not afraid to pass and is capable to complete passes but the CFL is a much higher quality league than what he's seen at college.

Interesting that Tedford himself went to see this guy. Either Tedford's a bit of a micro-manager (let's hope not) or he is like many fans fearful that he hasn't another sure fire starter in the QB collection to date and like many fans is concerned that his starter's shoulder injury will never heal and is looking for the home run hitter who can play immediately as he has no idea if Lulay is okay or - and neither do we of course.

The big issues for the college QB is if they can make that transition to the pros - and many good college QBs don't. They are always seeking that exception.

The big upside to this guy might be that Tedford was tipped about this under the radar guy by someone with a great eye for talent and awareness of his potential. This is certainly how Bobby Ackles got tips and Eric Tillman who has a large network of contacts he never stopped reaching out to in the USA. Tedford might be in a similar situation as he was producing college players for the pros. What we read is that his guys weren't doing great at graduating - something that for me is a bit sad.

I like that Tedford went to see McGhee for himself, it tells me that there is more to this QB than just another QB coming out of college. By investing his time with McGhee, it may have swayed McGhee's decision and that is exactly what we as fans wanted with the announcement of Tedford as HC. Also being a QB HC, Tedford needs to see what McGhee is made of, he then signed him, so that also leads me to believe that McGhee has the skillset and mindset to be a QB that Tedford can work with. Having only seen his athletic ability on youtube highlights, he looks to possess the skillset that a CFL QB needs, especially a rookie QB, he can improvise while on the run. The only thing that has me concerned is that his arm doesn't look to be on the same level as his running ability is, and that is a bigger problem in the CFL vs NFL or NCAA.

As for Tillman, I do think that he struggled finding QB's, that certainly wasn't his strong suit position to fill during his tenure in the CFL as a GM. He was good at spinning the media talk, even to the point of some feeling sorry for Chick when he was pinned by Murphy (Oh how that was a glorious time for the Lions OL).

Looking at the Highlight videos, McGhee has an eerie similarity to Printers in athletic ability..... but Rammer's note of arm strength seems valid. Printers could throw the ball through a brick wall. It will be an interesting TC to see McGhee up close on the Canadian field.

[Rammer]

I 'm not hoping for any to tank but for any of these including Beck to step up and be ready to start.

I don't think McGhee will find the big problem the rules in the CFL but the speed of the game and the size and quickness of the players coming at him. He has the confidence and is not afraid to pass and is capable to complete passes but the CFL is a much higher quality league than what he's seen at college.

Interesting that Tedford himself went to see this guy. Either Tedford's a bit of a micro-manager (let's hope not) or he is like many fans fearful that he hasn't another sure fire starter in the QB collection to date and like many fans is concerned that his starter's shoulder injury will never heal and is looking for the home run hitter who can play immediately as he has no idea if Lulay is okay or - and neither do we of course.

The big issues for the college QB is if they can make that transition to the pros - and many good college QBs don't. They are always seeking that exception.

The big upside to this guy might be that Tedford was tipped about this under the radar guy by someone with a great eye for talent and awareness of his potential. This is certainly how Bobby Ackles got tips and Eric Tillman who has a large network of contacts he never stopped reaching out to in the USA. Tedford might be in a similar situation as he was producing college players for the pros. What we read is that his guys weren't doing great at graduating - something that for me is a bit sad.

I like that Tedford went to see McGhee for himself, it tells me that there is more to this QB than just another QB coming out of college. By investing his time with McGhee, it may have swayed McGhee's decision and that is exactly what we as fans wanted with the announcement of Tedford as HC. Also being a QB HC, Tedford needs to see what McGhee is made of, he then signed him, so that also leads me to believe that McGhee has the skillset and mindset to be a QB that Tedford can work with. Having only seen his athletic ability on youtube highlights, he looks to possess the skillset that a CFL QB needs, especially a rookie QB, he can improvise while on the run. The only thing that has me concerned is that his arm doesn't look to be on the same level as his running ability is, and that is a bigger problem in the CFL vs NFL or NCAA.

As for Tillman, I do think that he struggled finding QB's, that certainly wasn't his strong suit position to fill during his tenure in the CFL as a GM. He was good at spinning the media talk, even to the point of some feeling sorry for Chick when he was pinned by Murphy (Oh how that was a glorious time for the Lions OL).

Looking at the Highlight videos, McGhee has an eerie similarity to Printers in athletic ability..... but Rammer's note of arm strength seems valid. Printers could throw the ball through a brick wall. It will be an interesting TC to see McGhee up close on the Canadian field.

He doesn't have the size of Printers either, more Russell Wilson like from what I see without looking up his particulars. I recall a BC Lion fanfest at BC Place and they had Printers and Dickenson on stage side by side and David pointed out the athletic look of CP in comparison to DD, it doesn't always have to be wrapped pretty, there is much more than an athletic body to a CFL QB, but it isn't a bad thing either.